Analysis of the Impact of Industrial Structure Upgrading and Energy Structure Optimization on Carbon Emission Reduction

Guoliang Fan (), Anni Zhu and Hongxia Xu
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Guoliang Fan: School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Anni Zhu: School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Hongxia Xu: Department of Mathematics, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-23

Abstract: In China, there has been a significant increase in carbon emissions in the new era. Therefore, evaluating the influence of industrial structure upgrades and energy structure optimization on reducing carbon emissions is the objective of this research. Based on the provincial panel data of 30 provinces and cities across China from 1997 to 2019, this paper builds up a fixed-effect panel quantile STIRPAT model to investigate the differences in the impact of industrial structure on carbon emission intensity at different quantile levels from the provincial perspective, and as a way of causality test, the mediation effect model is adopted to empirically test the transmission path of “industrial structure upgrading—energy structure optimization—carbon emission reduction”. The research results show that: (1) Both industrial structure upgrades and energy structure optimization have significant inhibitory effects on carbon emissions, and there are regional heterogeneities. (2) The upgrading of industrial structure has a significant positive effect on optimizing energy structure. (3) The upgrading of industrial structure can not only directly restrain carbon emissions but also indirectly have a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emissions by promoting the optimization of energy structure. Based on the above conclusions, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed to provide suggestions for China to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.

Keywords: carbon emission reduction; industrial structure; energy structure; panel quantile regression; mediation effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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